Hercules (comics)
From Free net encyclopedia
Hercules, or Heracles, being in one sense a superhero from classical antiquity, and a recognisable character freely available in the public domain, has been featured in a number of comic book series. Some notable appearances include:
Contents |
Marvel Comics
By far the best known appearance of Hercules in comic books is in Marvel Comics.
Hercules was introduced in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 (1965), by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist-coplotter Jack Kirby, who used him as a foil for the Incredible Hulk and Thor. Marvel's incarnation of Hercules names him as the physically strongest of all the Olympian gods and has been observed to lift and carry the weight of interstellar starhips, lift and hurl giant Sequoia trees and on one occasion pulled/towed the entire island of Manhattan back to its original location when it was stolen by a group of aliens in a Marvel Team up with Spider-Man. Because of this, Hercules' strength is well in excess of the "Class 100" Level (able to lift/press in excess of 100 tons), making him, one of the strongest beings in the Marvel universe. Like the other Olympians, Hercules is functionally immortal. He hasn't aged since reaching adulthood and can't die by conventional means due to the mystical lifeforce common to his race. Hercules' is also extremely difficult to injure. The tissues of his body (including his skin, bone and muscles) are extremely tough (though he was once beaten into a coma by the combined efforts of The Wrecking Crew, Mr. Hyde and Goliath who were then part of the Masters of Evil; it should be noted that Hercules was heavily intoxicated at the time); and he possesses near-limitless stamina.
In his Marvel incarnation, Hercules is sometimes oafish, especially after extensive drinking, and always supremely confident to the point of arrogance. Hercules' extreme confidence in himself and his abilities is common to those beings, within the Marvel Universe, who consider themselves "gods" or godlike. Hercules' arrogance has been known to get him into trouble, sometimes with his own kind, and sometimes against enemies with power rivaling his own. However, Hercules is a true hero and is eager to prove his vaunted strength to any who would question him. He has a friendly rivalry with Thor, and is one of Thor's closest allies. Hercules' relationships with his fellow Greek gods, including his father Zeus, was far less amiable; the usual background for his adventures with the Marvel superheroes was that Hercules had been banished from Mount Olympus, usually for breaking one of Zeus's commands or the rules of the Olympian gods, or for siding with humanity instead of the gods in some dispute.
Marvel Hercules is a reserve member of The Avengers and was also a founding member of the short-lived Champions team (the creation of which involved his fellow Olympian gods).
The Marvel Hercules has starred in four miniseries. The initial four-issue miniseries was published in 1982 and collected in a trade paperback in 1988. Hercules is punished by Zeus to banishment on a journey through outer space, where he befriends the Recorder, an android given to him by the alien Regelians. During his journey, Hercules encounters Galactus, the world devourer, and manages to temporarily subdue Galactus' hunger by making him laugh after attempting to get him drunk. A second miniseries followed in 1983, and a third in 1997. The fourth, published in 2005, was written by Frank Tieri with art by Mark Texiera. It saw the Greek god attempting to complete 12 new labors for a reality TV show, and eventually seek the forgiveness of his dead family.
Hercules is one of the few people that definitively knows that both Thor and Asgard are gone.
In the recent Ares series, he was placed in charge of Olympus's defense until Ares would return. Upon his father's command, he set aside his feud with Ares towards a common goal: repel the invaders on Olympus.
DC Comics
In the universe of DC Comics, Hercules was used on occasion before Crisis on Infinite Earths as a foil to Superman. In these Silver Age books, Hercules usually appears as a giant, and frequently tests his strength with Samson, the Bible character, and another giant named Zha-Vam, as well as with Superman.
In 1975, DC produced a comic book series titled Hercules Unbound, featuring the adventures of Hercules in a post-apocalyptic future. This Hercules looked different from the other DC interpretations - he had long black hair and no beard. The series lasted 12 issues. It made use of characters and concepts, such as The Atomic Knights and the intelligent animals from Jack Kirby's Kamandi series as an attempt to tie in some of the future series. It was later suggested that this character was just part of a dream suffered by The Atomic Knight, but later DC accepted that he had existed somewhere in its multiverse but was eliminated during the Crisis. Bill Everett did some of the art on the early issues of this series, as did Walt Simonson, and Wallace Wood inked some of them towards the end of his career.
After the reboot of the DC universe in Crisis, Heracles — the Greek spelling — appeared in the pages of Wonder Woman. George Pérez, putting Greek mythology at the center of Wonder Woman's world, relates the tale of Heracles' conquest of the Amazons and his rape of Queen Hippolyta, and their revenge upon him. Heracles is punished by the Greek gods, and was made to bear the weight of Paradise Island on his shoulders in Hades. Wonder Woman rescues him, and he is reconciled with the Amazons. Later, John Byrne did an inconclusive storyline in which Hercules appeared in the contemporary world and schemed to take revenge on the Amazons by seducing Wonder Woman.
In the post-Crisis DC Universe, the Roman Gods existed separatedly from the Greek ones after Darkseid tricked them into splitting up so they could be worshipped by two different cultures at the same time; only after the "War of the Gods" did the two versions merge again. So in effect, both Heracles and Hercules existed, and they merged into one being in recent years.
Hercules is one of the mythological figures who grant Captain Marvel his powers when Billy Batson speaks the word of power "Shazam."
During the Marvel/DC crossover between the Justice League and the Avengers, Wonder Woman believed Marvel Comics' Hercules to be a villain, assuming he had raped his dimension's Hippolyta; however, Marvel Comics' Hercules had simply seduced Marvel Comics' Hippolyta with her consent. Wonder Woman came to realize this by the end of the story.
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics published The Adventures of Hercules in the early 1960s.
Hercules, the Legendary Journeys
Dark Horse Comics published several issues of a comic book based on the character of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as played by Kevin Sorbo. Roy Thomas wrote many of the early issues of this book; Jeff Butler was frequently the artist.
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics published two issues of a Hercules comic book on connection with the early 1960s Japanese anime animated series The Mighty Hercules.
Quality Comics
The Quality Comics series Hit Comics featured a superhuman circus strongman, Joe Hercules, related to the mythological figure by surname only. He debuted in Hit Comics #1 (July 1940).
External links
- Supermanica: Hercules Supermanica entry on the Pre-Crisis DC Comics version of Hercules as seen in Superman comics
- Independent Heroes from the USA: Hercules